BAHAMAS CONCH SHELL FLOWER CARVING - 22.45 CTS [PF 1535]

Item Information

This is a natural untreated
shell bead drilled from a conch shell legally harvested in the
Bahamas.They are showing a strong fire of pink colour.

Drilled through the centre for
setting in jewellery

Weight 22.45 cts app

Size 24 x 4 mm app

Many gastropods (snails and sea
snails, of which the conch is the latter) produce pearls, and those
of the Queen Conch, Strombus gigas, have been collectors’ items since
Victorian times. Conch pearls come in a range of hues, including
white, brown and orange and many intermediate shades, but pink is the
colour most associated with the conch pearl. Conch pearls are
sometimes referred to simply as ‘pink pearls’. In some gemmological
texts, non-nacreous gastropod pearls used to be referred to as
‘calcareous concretions’ because they were ‘porcellaneous’ (i.e.
shiny and ceramic-like) in appearance rather than ‘nacreous’ (i.e.
with a pearly lustre sometimes known as ‘orient’). However, Kenneth
Scarrat, the director of GIA in Bangkok recently argued that conch
calcareous concretions should be called ‘pearls’. Under Federal Trade
Commission rules, conch pearls may be referred to as ‘pearls’ without
qualification. Although non-nacreous, the surface of fine Conch
pearls has a unique and attractive appearance of its own. The
microstructure of conch pearls comprises partly-aligned bundles of
microcrystalline fibres which create a shimmering, slightly
iridescent effect known as ‘flame structure’. The effect is a form of
chatoyancy, caused by the interaction of light rays with the
microcrystas in the pearl’s surface, and it somewhat resembles Moiré
silk.